Make it Official! Twins 7, Rays 6: A Wet, Wild, Walkoff Win

[jmlease1]

Correa is rolling right now. Love to see it. Glad to see the Twins aren't wasting it.

I don't think Lopez is that far off, even if he had another disappointing start. The stuff is still there, but he's just hanging a few right now and getting punished for it. Think he'll be ok, but it;s a bit concerning. Those big bombs are really hurting right now.

Impressed with the offense in how they clawed their way back into this. 

Did not love the clown at home plate and his ridiculous strike zone early in the game, though.

[MMMordabito]

1 hour ago, tony&rodney said:

Not long ago, Margot and Santana were struggling but they are playing well at this time and sweeping away the talk of their demise. 

I'm still thinking the roster stays pretty much the same until an evaluation that follows the series versus Philadelphia.

Santana was never that bad, and the sample of his bad streaks weren't all that large.  He also mostly played great defense and ran the bases well when he was struggling at the plate.  I'm not drinking the Guyana special on him being All-Star, but I do think his addition will be looked back on as a positive one.  

Margot is a completely different story.  He's been on a two week run of getting on base a lot, and that's about it.  No power. sub-par defense and always fails as a pinch-hitter.

Santana:    1.0 bWAR 112 OPS+ 

Margot:    -0.8 bWAR 78 OPS+

Margot should start losing PAs to Martin as the season progresses

[DJL44]

Nice job by the Twins and the rain getting Tampa to empty their bullpen (used 7 relief pitchers in the game).

[DJL44]

4 minutes ago, MMMordabito said:

Margot is a completely different story.  He's been on a two week run of getting on base a lot, and that's about it.  No power. sub-par defense and always fails as a pinch-hitter.

0-18 with 3 walks is remarkably bad for a pinch-hitter. If that's your pinch hitter you're better off not pinch-hitting.

[LambchoP]

Maybe time to call up Varland again or Festa for a spot start or two in Pablo's place. Give him a little extra rest and see if that helps sort him out. Both Jackson and Theilbar are wasted roster spots. We could replace Theilbar with Funderburk but I think we need a high leverage lefty at the trade deadline. Maybe package Kiriloff and some of our blocked infielders like Severino and Helman for some starting pitching and bullpen help.

[Gold15]

1 hour ago, Schmoeman5 said:

Better than being delusional and living in the past. Remember when bread was 5 cents a loaf?

So youre comparing less than a year to 50 years ago?

Lopez has been terrible this year.. I'm just not going to start whining about it when things arent going well.

[strumdatjag]

1 hour ago, Gold15 said:

you guys are so melodramatic and whiny.

That was then, this is now.  Maybe the Twins if the Twins add a player at the deadline, they look to a batter on a team that hammered Pablo.  Maybe that batter can tell us what he was told about Pablo.   Maybe he’s tipping his pitches. 

[Schmoeman5]

2 minutes ago, Gold15 said:

So youre comparing less than a year to 50 years ago?

Lopez has been terrible this year.. I'm just not going to start whining about it when things arent going well.

I'm not whining. You're whining about justified criticism. You chose to focus on ONE game! Last year Lopez during the regular season would have a good game, then a not so good game. He got hot down the stretch. I'm not saying he can't do it again.  He's had 3 or 4 really good starts this year. That's it. 

[Gold15]

30 minutes ago, Schmoeman5 said:

I'm not whining. You're whining about justified criticism. You chose to focus on ONE game! Last year Lopez during the regular season would have a good game, then a not so good game. He got hot down the stretch. I'm not saying he can't do it again.  He's had 3 or 4 really good starts this year. That's it. 

I'm focusing on two playoff starts and a 0.71 ERA and Two wins.

Complaining about a problem without offering a solution to the problem is whining. You are whining which makes you a whiner.

[stringer bell]

The Twins are on a six-game winning streak and moved into the #2 wildcard spot last night. Let's not bicker about whether someone is whining or not. 

[roger]

Was thinking about Jackson and Thielbar yesterday.  Expect neither is going anywhere until Steward and/or Topa are ready to rejoin the team.  As I understand, Stewart is close to going on a rehab assignment and Topa has yet to throw off a mound.  When they are ready, we will probably see Jackson DFA'd and Thielbar put on the injured list for some rest and time to figure out if anything is left.

[Schmoeman5]

4 minutes ago, Gold15 said:

I'm focusing on two playoff starts and a 0.71 ERA and Two wins.

Complaining about a problem without offering a solution to the problem is whining. You are whining which makes you a whiner.

Oh wow! 2 games. And I don't have to offer a solution. I'm not a pitching coach for the Twins. That's their job. Why don't you go down to TF. Get a press credential and ask Pablo what he has to say about his performance so far in 2024. I'm pretty sure he'd say something along the line of, disappointing or maybe inconsistent at best. And get me some cheese, so I can enjoy my whine. 

[DJL44]

22 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

The Twins are on a six-game winning streak

And this thread was on a six-post whining streak

[Shaitan]

Lopez has been inconsistent to bad this year. 

But nobody could have pitched in the weather of the first 6 innings yesterday. The game shouldn't have been played.

But I'll take the W.

[Blyleven2011]

2 hours ago, Riverbrian said:

Still not comfortable commenting on these game recap "make it official" threads because I'm still not able to watch the game. I need the important context that can only be gained from watching. 

With that said... while I believe that Rocco over did the pinch hitting last year by miles. I realize that I can come across as anti-pinch hitting at times as a result. I'm not. 

I would have had no problem with Santana pinch hitting for Miranda in that spot last night. The 9th is when you pinch hit... not the 4th or 5th and 2nd inning.  

Unless of course... there was some context from not watching the game that I was missing.  

Way to come up clutch Mr. Santana. 

Finally Rocco made a move I would agree with  100 percent of the time , pinch hitting Santana for Miranda  was my choice  and it went just according to plan , veteran hitter ( cool , calm and composed  ) , Miranda ( young , maybe to eager in those situations but still capable )...

Good walk off by Santana  ...

By the way , what's our record when we play in the rain  ???

[jorgenswest]

Willi Castro is amazing.

Someone brought up Cesar Tovar earlier and what a great comp. Tovar was picked up from the Reds organization at 24. He played all over the field playing over 200 games at 5 different positions in his career and another 77 at SS. He bunted. He stole bases. He was a league leader in getting hit by pitch. He hustled.

Tovar was a favorite of mine. Castro has become one also. Fantastic pick up originally signed by Cleveland and then traded to Detroit. Those two AL central teams lost out.

[jmlease1]

1 hour ago, roger said:

Was thinking about Jackson and Thielbar yesterday.  Expect neither is going anywhere until Steward and/or Topa are ready to rejoin the team.  As I understand, Stewart is close to going on a rehab assignment and Topa has yet to throw off a mound.  When they are ready, we will probably see Jackson DFA'd and Thielbar put on the injured list for some rest and time to figure out if anything is left.

Thielbar has enough track record that he's going to get more rope unless they're seeing clear signs in his stuff that he's truly degraded. Complicated for relievers because of the small sample sizes. Jackson, on the other hand, should be gone as soon as Stewart is back if not before. He was a reasonable risk, but he seems likely to get through waivers again and even if he doesn't it's not great loss. Alcala, Jax, and Duran are already pretty murderous to face late in games (and did a great job shutting down TB last night) so adding Stewart back to that mix is going to be fun.

[roger]

12 minutes ago, jmlease1 said:

Thielbar has enough track record that he's going to get more rope unless they're seeing clear signs in his stuff that he's truly degraded. Complicated for relievers because of the small sample sizes. Jackson, on the other hand, should be gone as soon as Stewart is back if not before. He was a reasonable risk, but he seems likely to get through waivers again and even if he doesn't it's not great loss. Alcala, Jax, and Duran are already pretty murderous to face late in games (and did a great job shutting down TB last night) so adding Stewart back to that mix is going to be fun.

And lets not forget Staumont.  He seems to be coming along as this year's Stewart.  If these guys all get healthy, that bullpen is gonna be what we thought heading into spring training.

[Mike Sixel]

Surprised to read this today. Given the game thread, I thought they lost 100000000 to negative 1000000000. 

Super happy to be this wrong about Santana right now. super happy. 

[bean5302]

2 hours ago, Blyleven2011 said:

Finally Rocco made a move I would agree with  100 percent of the time , pinch hitting Santana for Miranda  was my choice  and it went just according to plan , veteran hitter ( cool , calm and composed  ) , Miranda ( young , maybe to eager in those situations but still capable )...

Good walk off by Santana  ...

By the way , what's our record when we play in the rain  ???

Miranda 2024 vs. RHP = .293/.338/.512 OPS .851 wRC+ 141
Miranda 2022 vs. RHP = .265/.331/.390 OPS .721 wRC+ 110
Santana 2024 vs. RHP = .218/.317/.370 OPS .687 wRC+ 100
Santana 2023 vs. RHP = .229/.304/.420 OPS .724 wRC+ 94
Santana 2022 vs. RHP = .178/.288/.366 OPS .655 wRC+ 89
Santana 2021 vs. RHP = .184/.309/.327 OPS .636 wRC+ 75

It worked out... but it was a sketchy call that fits with Rocco's spreadsheet macro management skill. Just because Santana can technically stand in the left batters box doesn't mean he can hit well from there.

[RpR]

1 minute ago, bean5302 said:

Miranda 2024 vs. RHP = .293/.338/.512 OPS .851 wRC+ 141
Miranda 2022 vs. RHP = .265/.331/.390 OPS .721 wRC+ 110
Santana 2024 vs. RHP = .218/.317/.370 OPS .687 wRC+ 100
Santana 2023 vs. RHP = .229/.304/.420 OPS .724 wRC+ 94
Santana 2022 vs. RHP = .178/.288/.366 OPS .655 wRC+ 89
Santana 2021 vs. RHP = .184/.309/.327 OPS .636 wRC+ 75

It worked out... but it was a sketchy call that fits with Rocco's spreadsheet macro management skill. Just because Santana can technically stand in the left batters box doesn't mean he can hit well from there.

Quasi-rookie vs Old Pro -- go with the old pro.

[bean5302]

14 minutes ago, RpR said:

Quasi-rookie vs Old Pro -- go with the old pro.

Got it. Old players are better.

[bean5302]

Lopez's pitches aren't moving nearly as well since his 5/9 start, and he's not locating them as well. The result is crushed meatball salad. The special "Cy Young Favorite" metrics aren't bailing him out this year.

[GNess]

8 hours ago, Dman said:

Man I can't remember a Twins player on the kind of heater Correa has been on for this long. He is catching some lucky breaks on some hits falling in no mans land or just squeezing through, but most are good solid hits.  He is really helping the team with his bat right now.

I agree - maybe Kirby Puckett put together something similar?

[bean5302]

15 minutes ago, GNess said:

I agree - maybe Kirby Puckett put together something similar?

I'd say Mauer's May, 2009 does okay. 23 games. 5/1-5/25
.444/.530/.914 OPS 1.444 wRC+ 267.

Even his first 45 games through June 20th.
.417/.485/.744 OPS 1.229 wRC+ 219

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Man this team is hot — everything is going their way and most importantly, they don’t quit.

Sometimes they fail to show up, like against New York, but when they do show up, they don’t quit. 🙂

[Blyleven2011]

7 hours ago, jorgenswest said:

Willi Castro is amazing.

Someone brought up Cesar Tovar earlier and what a great comp. Tovar was picked up from the Reds organization at 24. He played all over the field playing over 200 games at 5 different positions in his career and another 77 at SS. He bunted. He stole bases. He was a league leader in getting hit by pitch. He hustled.

Tovar was a favorite of mine. Castro has become one also. Fantastic pick up originally signed by Cleveland and then traded to Detroit. Those two AL central teams lost out.

Love it when someone brings up our heros of the past , tovar and carew steal 5 bases in one inning , each stole home in the same inning , pepe was a good player , lead off hitter most of the time ahead of carew  , they were fun to watch  , i still remember that game and wish we had old baseball mixed with this new crap ...

[Blyleven2011]

5 hours ago, bean5302 said:

Miranda 2024 vs. RHP = .293/.338/.512 OPS .851 wRC+ 141
Miranda 2022 vs. RHP = .265/.331/.390 OPS .721 wRC+ 110
Santana 2024 vs. RHP = .218/.317/.370 OPS .687 wRC+ 100
Santana 2023 vs. RHP = .229/.304/.420 OPS .724 wRC+ 94
Santana 2022 vs. RHP = .178/.288/.366 OPS .655 wRC+ 89
Santana 2021 vs. RHP = .184/.309/.327 OPS .636 wRC+ 75

It worked out... but it was a sketchy call that fits with Rocco's spreadsheet macro management skill. Just because Santana can technically stand in the left batters box doesn't mean he can hit well from there.

Yes it worked out for Santana  , Miranda could have been the hero too ,  but in that situation  my thought was experience  to pinch hit , santana has been in that situation  so many times ...

The numbers didn't matter and I think Rocco finally went with a gut feeling call , I'd like to see more from the gut than his sheets suggest ...

[h2oface]

16 hours ago, Gold15 said:

Lopez pretty much signal handily helped the twins end their playoff winless game and series streaks. But yeah, keep on trashing him with your whiny little comments.....

Single handedly? And I thought baseball was a team sport, and the most runs win. Somebody got those hits. And Sonny won game 2. Don't forget Sonny! Thanks for fansplaining me. 

Welcome back. It has been a combative aggressive name calling re-entrance for you, eh? And you love whine and its derivatives. 6 in 4 comments. "I like my wine too, but I stop drinking it sometimes."

[wabene]

1 hour ago, h2oface said:

Single handedly? And I thought baseball was a team sport, and the most runs win. Somebody got those hits. And Sonny won game 2. Don't forget Sonny! Thanks for fansplaining me. 

Welcome back. It has been a combative aggressive name calling re-entrance for you, eh? And you love whine and its derivatives. 6 in 4 comments. "I like my wine too, but I stop drinking it sometimes."

I don't blame anybody for being frustrated with your posts, you have that effect.